Magnet
by AlphaKantSpell
Summary: When Carlton was feeling particularly romantic he liked to imagine he and Shawn were like magnets. Only after moving in with the man did Carlton learn he was not Shawn's Negative to his Positive. That role had been filled and would always be filled by Burton Guster.


When Carlton was feeling particularly romantic he liked to imagine he and Shawn were like magnets, two opposites opposed to each other most of the time but couldn't seem to escape the pull of the other. It sure felt that way around Shawn, his hands always caressing and touching whenever he invaded Carlton's personal bubble like an octopus surrounding a crab. Away from Shawn, Carlton got antsy and his fingers were always looking for something to do, to snap or tap or pick up wrappers and crinkle them. When he returned to Shawn's side at night it was with the thunderous energy lightning left in its wake as air charged in to fill the vacuum.

Only after moving in with the man did Carlton learn he was not Shawn's Negative to his Positive. That role had been filled and would always be filled by Burton Guster.

Case and point – mere hours after deciding on a final location, Guster was there scoping out which room would be his. Carlton assumed he and Shawn were joking until the two started on a make-shift fort until Guster could move in his own stuff. The next day he was there in the morning eating Lucky Charms with Shawn. That same evening they were watching Boy Meets World while arguing the semantics Star Gate: SG1 symbols. Carlton called Henry who offered reluctant but sage-like advice for him to stay out of "Best Friend Business".

"Gus was nine when his parents tried to pry the two away," Henry continued, voice almost lost to sizzling meet he was barbequing. "Didn't end well; the two hatched this plan to run away together and become vagabonds on a train. They were halfway to Anaheim before anyone realized what had happened."

"I just don't get it, Guster is the reasonable one. He has a _legitimate _job - why is he stooping to Shawn's level?"

Henry uttered a chuffing noise not to be confused with an older car struggling to drive up a steep hill. It was close, though. "You know Shawn; he's invasive as a weed. It's hard to be rational around him, especially for Gus. The two have shared the same brain since they met."

"Oh I know. I get in the same room as that screw-ball and I can't think straight."

Henry's grill hissed as he pressed a little too hard into one of his patties. Carlton cleared his throat. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that."

"Thank you, Sir."

The line went dead. Carlton massaged his temples and glared out at the horizon. A condo with a beach view was all Shawn asked for when they chose this apartment (actually the list of needs was in the thousands but Carlton was a good enough detective/boyfriend to understand the beach was all Shawn really wanted). A disgusting, sherbet-colored sunset kissed his cheeks and with one good gust, sea breeze teased his nose. The patio door screeched as Shawn bound out of it and hugged to Carlton's elbow, grinning as ever like a Labrador. Through the sliding-door Carlton could see Guster in adamant denial of his best friend's antics and munching on popcorn.

"Come on in, it's the military episode when Angela's father returns! I think you'll get a kick out of this one!"

"Three's a crowd," Carlton bit out. Shawn stopped bouncing like a kickball grabbed out of the air. He frowned and took a step back.

". . . You don't like having Gus around?"

"No – well yes. It's a little weird."

"A little weird? A little weird! Lassie, you have three mugs with gun-shaped handles! Just last week we were eating peanut butter-and-pineapple sandwiches. Weird is our thing."

"Spencer, you were the one who art the sandwiches, not me."

"That does not justify hanging wanted posters in our bedroom." Shawn pressed Carlton's breastbone with a sharp jab and Carlton crossed his arms. Both men squinted daggers at each other.

"I need to keep their details fresh in my mind."

"Why do that when I can do it for you?"

"Because I'm a Detective of the Law and don't need the meddling of civilians."

Shawn's eyes took the pretense of misty-eyed sympathy. "Oh Lassie, you'll always need my meddling. Have you gotten that through your thick noggin?"

Carlton grit his teeth instead of howling a curse that would turn Guster's ears pink and scowled at the far-away ocean. If he pretended, he could almost hear the waves.

"Can you be serious for a moment? I don't like feeling out of the loop in my own house."

It wasn't until Shawn nudged his hand around Carlton's hip did he realize how quite the patio had become. For a rare moment now and again, Shawn was silent. There was his "calculating quite" and "pause for effect quiet" but once in a blue moon the man allowed his body to settle and his mind to cool. It was like he was in sleep-mode for a computer, black screened until someone tapped him awake.

"That's why I brought Gus over. He's my best friend – hell that man is a brother to me. We did a blood pact and everything. My point is that Gus will always be my main man, the Butch to my Cassidy, the Gimli to my Legolas, the Watson to my Holmes, the Sam to my Dean, the –"

"Not getting to the point quick enough."

"Gus is a huge part of my life; probably the biggest outside of you." Carlton watched Shawn from the corner of his eye. The man looked sincere, more so than usual. A smile creased Carlton's lips without his approval and Shawn returned the gesture. "I want him to be okay with you and you okay with him because without my best friend and my Lassie, I don't have much."

How could anyone argue with that? Carlton closed his eyes as he sighed and tugged Shawn over for a quick kiss. The sunset had turned more pink than yellow in the last moments and both were bathed in blush. Shawn tasted like pineapples and Angle-food cake.

"As long as he doesn't spend the night."

"Except on holidays and emergencies."

"Fine, but movie marathons don't count as emergencies."

"Oh I beg to differ. Why don't we vote on it? All in favor? Aye!"

"Aye!" Guster called from where he was peeking through the kitchen window. Carlton let loose a curse without regard as Shawn babbled with triumphant laughter.

"Majority has ruled in favor of movie night!" Shawn squirmed from his grasp and back into the house where he and Guster knuckle-bumped before resuming their show. Carlton huffed and joined the pair moments later, Shawn lounging onto Carlton's lap as Guster continued watching Mr. Feenie getting harassed by the Mathews brothers. Never in his life had Carlton felt such empathy for an older, fictional man.

Shawn and Guster were magnets. Carlton counted himself lucky to be caught in the orbit.


End file.
